The 18-year-old posted a video to Facebook on Tuesday night of him scalding a black and white cat with boiling water.

In the distressing video, boiling water is taken off a stove and the man who is filming walks towards the cat, which sitting near a litter box on the back porch.

He then makes sounds at the cat to lure it closer and throws water on the feline.

It howls in pain and runs up and down the porch and the man is heard yelling at the cat.

“Get the f*** from over here b**** and don’t come back,” he said.

When police went to charge the man earlier this week, they saw the scalded cat but could not catch it.

A Chicago Police Department statement said Leon Teague was charged with animal torture and misdemeanour depiction of animal cruelty.

“Teague was arrested after he was identified as the person who deliberately scalded a cat with a hot liquid,” police said.

“A video of the incident was posted on Facebook on February 2, 2016, approximately 10pm showing Teague luring a cat onto a rear porch and pouring boiling water onto the cat.

“The Chicago Police Department animal crimes team along with the Cook County Sheriffs Department were able to gather information through the course of the investigation, which identified Teague as the offender.”

Police told the Chicago Sun-Times they were unsure whether Teague owned the cat or whether it was a stray.